I have a mojoPortal site running on Windows server 2008. MS SQLServer Express 2005, medium trust.

I added my own skin folder called vastvoedsel. In this custom skin I changed the layout.Master file, and some .css files. I recently updated the site to version 2.3.3.4 b (MS SqlServer depoyment files).

Now I am trying to move this site to another server, also with Windows server 2008. On this server the site is running in Full trust. But the main difference is that the database is now MS SQLServer Express 2008 (instead of 2005). I restored the 2005 backup file to a new 2008 database.

I followed the explanation on http://www.mojoportal.com/moving-an-installation-of-mojoportal-to-a-different-server.aspx as much as possbile. The only detail that I could not execute lies in the fact that there is no Data/systemfiles\ folder (only a Data/Sites/1/systemfiles).
Both in the old and in the new situation the site is installed in a subdomain (nl.vastvoedsel.nl)

I have two strange problems:

1. As long as the skin is set to my custom vastvoedsel skin folder it looks as if the custom .css files are working, but that the custom layout.Master file is ignored. I am sure that the layout.Master file contains no errors because on the original server it works fine.
The standard mojoPortal skin folders seem to work fine. When I switch back to my custom vastvoedsel skin, the Master page is ignored again.
The logfile (Data/currentlog.config) shows no errors.
 

2. Initially when I first started the site on the new server it displayed only the Home page (with the custom vastvoedsel skin and with any other standard skin). As soon as I add a new page, suddenly the other existing pages popup!

I am moving a whole bunch of mojoPortal sites from one server to a new server. Up till now they all give exactly the same problems. In one case the custom layout.Master page was suddenly found when I redid the whole installation.

Can this problem be caused by the migration from MS SQLServer Express 2005 to 2008??

Does anyone have a solution?

Hi Joe,

If I delete the logfile, it is recrated. It does not contain any error messages.

The custom layout.Master file has full rights for Network Service (which is as identity of the AppPool).

The problem can not be the code in the layout.Master, because it works fine on the old server. And I am having this same problem with all my migrated mojoPortal sites.

Johan

Hi Joe,

The changes in skinning rules is part of my problem.

In the case of one site, changing the styling according to the new rules has solved the custom skinning completely.

But in the the case of another site I am trying to move and update the behaviour is extremely strange. In this case I did a completely new installation (the most recent MSSQl version).

I am working with a completely new ms sql database and the auto-created Home page.

Then I created a new folder: Sites\1\Skins\Test skin.

Next I copy all files of some standard skin that came with the installation (for example styleshout-techmania) into the new Test skin folder. When I switch the skin site settings to this new folder, the layout is completely lost, just as in my original problem.

If I swith the skin settings to the original Styleshout-techmania folder, the layout works fine..

The security settings on the new Test skin folder are exactly the same as the settings on all other skin folders.

What on earth can be causing this strange behaviour????? It is as if I am not allowed to add a new skin folder.

Johan Stringer

Hi Joe,

Great! This is what has been bothering me, together with the changes in styling elements you mentioned earlier. It explains why the moving and updating of some sites worked and others just refsed to work.

Woulden't there be a simple way to at least check and warn in the logging for spaces in the skin folder name and the occurence of out-dated styling elements in the layout.Master?

These issues have cost me an incredible amount of hours. I can imagine that many other mojoPortal webmasters will encounter the same puzzles when they start updating the version of older sites. This kind of upgrade problems does not help in making an environment popular.